Optimal shelter for children?

I was very sheltered young with the veil progressively pulled back and I aged and moved.  Most parents make a point of sheltering their children as though doing so is an unambiguous benefit.  I think that wisdom is at least as valuable as knowledge and that wisdom is primarily acquired via experience.  If parents want their children to be successful in the real world, define as you wish, shouldn't they allow their children to get a head start on experience beyond reading and math.  How about summer camps specializing in persuasion, public speaking, negotiation, and lie detection?  Let a rich kid spend a summer in the hood and see how much wiser he returns.  If/when I have a kids, I don't think that I will try to protect them from reality, but that is the rational me speaking and surely as a parent I will be more emotionally involved and protective.